Harvey Milk’s social change movement was the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement. However, he was also for all minorities and just did not like discrimination as a whole.
Milk’s main purpose in supporting this movement was that he was openly gay, so obviously there was a personal motivator that drove him to being so outspoken for the rights of these people. Milk knew he was gay by the time he got to high school, so he had the benefit of realizing his own ideology early so that it could form and shape depending on the future events in his life. Milk was not discouraged from the way he was by his family, and he was actually quite popular in school due to his various extracurricular activities such as football and theater. The fact that he was not completely hated for the way he was really shaped how he was such a big activist for LGBT rights.
Milk did many things after graduating from school. One of those things was enter the US Navy, which he was in for four years, based in San Diego. When he left, he was the rank of a lieutenant junior. He was also a Long Island high school teacher of mathematics and history. He worked in New York in the finance department as a stock analyst as well. He was even a production associate for Broadway musicals, including Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Milk was brought up in a middle class family in New York; he was not rich growing up, but he was not poor either. His entry in politics was to be elected onto the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, which was a huge deal because he was the first openly gay person to be elected into any kind of political office. His Hope Speech was one that really made people think about how LGBT rights were not present, more so than any other speech ever made to that day.
Milk was friends with pretty much anyone, so long as they were not against LGBT rights because he got along with everyone and was known for being an extremely personable person. His foes were people like State Senator John Briggs, who was anti-gay and tried to use that to spur his political career.
Milk’s main purpose in supporting this movement was that he was openly gay, so obviously there was a personal motivator that drove him to being so outspoken for the rights of these people. Milk knew he was gay by the time he got to high school, so he had the benefit of realizing his own ideology early so that it could form and shape depending on the future events in his life. Milk was not discouraged from the way he was by his family, and he was actually quite popular in school due to his various extracurricular activities such as football and theater. The fact that he was not completely hated for the way he was really shaped how he was such a big activist for LGBT rights.
Milk did many things after graduating from school. One of those things was enter the US Navy, which he was in for four years, based in San Diego. When he left, he was the rank of a lieutenant junior. He was also a Long Island high school teacher of mathematics and history. He worked in New York in the finance department as a stock analyst as well. He was even a production associate for Broadway musicals, including Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Milk was brought up in a middle class family in New York; he was not rich growing up, but he was not poor either. His entry in politics was to be elected onto the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, which was a huge deal because he was the first openly gay person to be elected into any kind of political office. His Hope Speech was one that really made people think about how LGBT rights were not present, more so than any other speech ever made to that day.
Milk was friends with pretty much anyone, so long as they were not against LGBT rights because he got along with everyone and was known for being an extremely personable person. His foes were people like State Senator John Briggs, who was anti-gay and tried to use that to spur his political career.
Bibliography:
"Milk Foundation.org » HARVEY MILK – Biography ." Milk Foundation.org . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography/>.
"The Castro | Resource Guide | Harvey Milk, Hero and Martyr." KQED Public Media for Northern CA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.kqed.org/w/hood/castro/resourceguide/harveymilk.html>.
"The Hope Speech : Harvey Milk | From Dana's Guests | DanaRoc.com." Welcome To DanaRoc.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.danaroc.com/guests_harveymilk_122208.html#top>. **